Day 34 - Goodbye Wuhan, Hello Singapore!

The last day in Wuhan! It’s the final day in Wuhan and also the day we return back to Singapore. My roommates and I woke up really early this morning to clean the room. At around 6:30am, Rani, Jas min, Cindy and I went down to buy breakfast. This will be the last time buying and eating food we bought from the stalls along 堕落街. I DEFINITELY WILL MISS THE FOOD! I WILL MISS THE DORM, THE BED, THE WEATHER, THE AIRCON! AND THE AWESOME PEOPLE IN WUHAN! Haha! I shall not go on. The list will be long. LOL! Alrights, let me continue with the photos.

Trash contributed by all of us.

Last photo of the 汤包stall.

Last Breakfast bought from 堕落街, 汤包 with extra chilli and 豆浆.

My luggage.

With my room mates, Cindy and Jas Min. Thanks for taking care of me for the past 5 weeks! You girls are awesome room mates! :)

After breakfast, we gathered at the first floor of our “Condo”. All of us weighed our luggage before leaving to ensure that it does not exceed 30kg, the maximum allowance for each person. Mine was alright! Phew~! We loaded our luggage onto the bus and headed to the Wuhan Domestic Airport for a flight to the Guang Zhou Airport. As usual, after some switches in the seating arrangements, I had Hana and Rani as my plane mates again! YAY! This time round, I got the window seat for both flights as Hana gave it to me. Thanks! Took some photos on the plane.  

Yan Fang. She looks cute in this photo! :)

Waiting to board the bus.

Faith. Did you notice the sticker on her arm? It's a sticker for items which are FRAGILE! Haha! :)

Waiting for our turn to check in our luggage. For me, my luggage is about 20kg. PASSED:)

Air Ticket for the flight from Wuhan to Guang Zhou.

Air Ticket for the flight from Guang Zhou to Singapore! :)

Hana and Rani.

Me and Hana.

With my plane mates, Hana and Rani.

TV on the plane.

The plane is getting ready to take off.

HEHE! Here's a photo of Hana's expression when the plane is taking off. She's so funny! :)

Lunch served on the plane.

Yan Fang is feeling tired after the long flight from Wuhan to Guang Zhou.

Haha! YF is resting:)

CZ351, our flight to Singapore! :)

Dinner served on plane.

Changi Airport!

Collecting our luggage.

Dion. We were all prepared to see his parents' reactions when they see him with his new hairstyle! Haha!:)

MY FAMILY! My sis, the one in white. My dad is behind her and my mum, the one in black! :) My brother and cousin are not in the photo.

Taken on our way back home.

Reflections: It feels great to be back in our homeland, Singapore! Through this 5 weeks in Wuhan, I learnt a lot and i see myself growing up, getting more mature in terms of thinking. I learnt to be more thoughtful and independent since my family members are not here with me to allow me to depend on. I learnt to be appreciative of what I already have, instead of complaining what we lack of. As compared to many people from other parts of the world, we are already considered very fortunate.

I will definitely miss this place very much! I'm so glad I've attended this OIP trip. The wonderful memories we shared and the unforgettable experiences we had will forever be etched in our hearts. The friendship forged right here in Wuhan will bring us as we move on in life. I'm sure we will all keep in contact. When school reopens, don't forget to greet each other when we meet in lectures! :D

I shall end this post with a song which i thought was really meaningful. It's Graduation by Vitamin C and the chorus goes like this:

AS WE GO ON,

WE REMEMBER,

ALL THE TIMES WE,

HAD TOGETHER.

AND AS OUR LIVES CHANGE,

COME WHATEVER,

WE WILL STILL BE

FRIENDS FOREVER.

WUHAN OIP TRIP, 14/09/2010 - 17/10/2010, A WONDERFUL JOURNEY :)

Day 33 - Last 2nd day in Wuhan

The last second day in Wuhan! Well, most would rush and do some last minute shopping. But, for Yan Fang and me, we decided to spend the time at a slower pace, a more relaxing manner. We accompanied Carol and Dion to the salon, 发源地 to get their hair done. I was actually planning to join Kimberley and the rest to go shopping at 名众乐园 in the afternoon, the so-called “Far East Shopping Mall”. But, I was so excited to see Carol and Dion with their new hairstyles, so I decided to stay in the salon and wait for them. While waiting, Yan Fang and I chatted. We had a great time chatting. She’s a nice buddy to chat with. Well, let’s chat again soon! :D

After some hours, they are done! Carol had her hair dyed and cut her fringe.  The hair stylist created some temporary curls for her as well. As for Dion, he has a massive makeover. He perm and dyed his hair! We were all excited to see his family’s reactions tomorrow and our classmates’ reactions when school reopens.

Dion.

Carol.

Carol and her hair stylist. He's my hair stylist as well! :)

Carol and Dion. They look like some super idols! :D

When we returned back to our dorms, I received a call from Hidayah, saying that they need a translator in the salon. So, Yan Fang and I went back to the salon again. I guess we have been going there so many times that we know the hair stylists and the lady boss too well! Haha! Besides Hidayah, Nabilah, Aini and Hazirah were there too. All of them went for haircut, i think:) Hidayah and Aini had bangs now:)

On the way back to dorm, we accompanied them to the halal stall as they wanted to thank the stall holders. They even presented a souvenir for them, a plastic S$5 note. They seemed happy!

Hmm. The last night in Wuhan, so we must definitely treat ourselves with the delicious street food from 堕落街. It’s a must! Haha! We were glad that the stallholder selling oysters and clams was there today! He has been taking off days for the past few days. Finally, he was there and we could have our final servings of oysters and clams before leaving Wuhan. Besides that, we bought many other food like 汤包, fries, chicken, skewered chicken, 蛋仔 and many more. Oh ya! We bought milk tea as well.

Oysters and clams.

汤包.

Skewered Chicken, Chicken Wing, Fries and many more.

I will miss running past the smoky street, 堕落街to buy food.

The shop selling yummy soya milk, 豆浆.

Waffle, commonly known as 蛋仔. This is where we get to know the little kids:) This place brings back many wonderful memories :D

Menu from the milk tea stall.

CLAMS! :)

At around 12am, we had our mutton feast in Dion and Eddy’s room. They bought about 200 sticks of mutton. Can you believe it? They really love the mutton from the mutton stall.

 

Reflections: I can't believe I had been living in Wuhan, away from my friends and family for the past 5 weeks! Time flies! I really think that the malay girls: Hidayah, Aini, Nabilah and Hazirah are really brave! They do not know Chinese well but they were still able to get around in China, taking cabs to unfamiliar places for shopping. They seriously bought a lot of stuffs! I heard that they drew out what kind of hair services they wanted in the salon too! That must be really amusing:) Oh well, it must be a great experience for them. Being in a country which speaks a different language you are familiar of, it must be a really tough job. But, the malay girls proved me wrong. It seems that they are adapting well in Wuhan. Good Job girls! :D

Day 32 - Farewell Dinner with the local students

It’s the last 3^rd day in WuhanL Well, we had a farewell dinner with the local students tonight. The place for the dinner is somewhere near the shopping mall along徐东大街. So, some of us went there earlier for shopping and for manicure. When we reached the shopping mall, we split ourselves into two groups; those going for shopping and those going for manicure. Hana, Rani, Melissa, Jas Min and I went for manicure. It was a great experience! Their service is as good as the salon! This is why their business is so good. We even chatted with the manicurists and one of them is really amusing. After choosing the designs and colours, the manicurists started working on our nails. We stayed in the shop for about 3 hours and finally, it’s done! All of us took photos with them before leaving and they seem happy too.

Hana enjoying the manicure service.

Melissa and Rani. See their facial expressions! They were satisfied with the service:)

This is the cute manicurist I was talking about. Her actions/words/behaviors are really funny! Glad to know her:)

Happy customers:)

After that, we met up with the rest at Starbucks and proceeded to MacDonald’s to meet the MDE students and the local students. When everyone was there, we then proceed to the restaurant for the dinner buffet.   

Kimberley, me, Yan Fang and Joanna.

Joanna and I.

We had the farewell dinner at this restaurant known as Golden Hans.

Hana, Carol and Dion.

Eddy, me and Melissa.

The waiter serving food. He look shocked. Maybe he's unprepared for the picture :P

Hana scooping a serving of potato salad. We love potato salad! :)

FOOD FOOD FOOD!

Strawberry Icecream. Yummy! :)

They even have a stage for singers to show their talent. This creates a better atmosphere. Pei Wen, Faith and Kimberley even requested a song and dedicated it to all of us, both students from NP and WUST. The song chosen was 爱我别走 by 王力宏. Thanks girls! :)

LSCT group photo.

They served beer to us. But for our table, we only took a glass :P

MBIO girls with Mr Imran.

PDA PDA PDA! Haha! :)

Faith and I.

Pei Wen and I.

Althea and I.

Carol and Dion.

With the local students, Betty, Yuan Yuan and Xing Xing.

Unglam Shot! Haha!

With Maqqi.

What kind of pose is this? Haha! Betty and Jas Min are so creative! :D

After the dinner, we had a mini appreciation ceremony. We presented token of appreciation to all the local students who have been there for us for the past 5 weeks. They had been really thoughtful and hosted us well. Without them, we would be so lost in the campus. Thank you very much!

Cards designed by our great artist, Jas Min! :) They are really nice, aren't they?

For Xing Xing.

For Maqqie.

For Yuan Yuan.

For Betty. She's also known as 洁群.

Mr Chia gave a speech of appreciation on behalf of NP.



The representative who gave a thank you speech on behalf of the local students.



Here's one of the local students who helped me to find my handphone. Thank you! :)

Group photo taken outside the shopping mall.

Guess who is this?

She's Yan Fang! Have you guessed it correctly? Haha! She was covering her face with her beanie! :)

Reflections: After the dinner we had tonight, we would be left with only 2 days in Wuhan before we head back to Singapore. We kind of have mixed feelings. On one hand, we know clearly that we miss Singapore, our friends and families, the life we used to have. On the other hand, we couldn’t bear to leave this place we have been staying for the past five weeks! We would miss the awesome friends we made here, as well as the delicious food. Well, everything has to come to an end. Goodbyes are inevitable. I really hope to have the chance to host them when they visit Singapore next year. This time round, I believe we would do a good job and play good hosts. Goodbye friends we made in Wuhan, seeya soon! :D